UN Expert: ISIS Received Up To $45 Million In Ransom Payments In 2013 Alone

The Islamic State group, which is said to be the world’s
wealthiest terrorist organization with diversified sources of
funding, received up to $45 million in ransom in the past year,
according to a United Nations expert.

Yotsna Lalji, who monitors sanctions against al Qaeda, said in a
meeting of the U.N. Security Council's Counter-Terrorism
Committee that as much as $120 million in ransom was estimated to
have been paid to terrorist groups between 2004 and 2012, and
ISIS collected between $35 million and $45 million in 2013 alone,
The Associated Press (AP) reported.

According to Lalji, al Qaeda and its affiliates have made
kidnapping “the core al-Qaida tactic for generating revenue,” in
recent years. She also pointed to a 2012 video recording in which
al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri provoked militants worldwide to
abduct Westerners.

Lalji said that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, operating from
Yemen, received $20 million in ransom between 2011 and 2013. On
the other hand, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, operating in
North Africa, got $75 million over the past four years, AP
reported.

Last week, the U.N. released a report stating that
ISIS has multiple sources of funding and possesses enough weapons
to carry on fighting for two more years. The U.N. also proposed
imposing sanctions on ISIS to help cut off the flow of funds to
the group.

According to the U.N., ISIS is
capable of producing nearly 47,000 barrels of oil each day, and
it charges $18 to $35 a barrel, and based on the estimated daily
production, the group’s projected potential revenue from crude
oil could range between $846,000 and $1,645,000 a day.

There have been reports that ISIS is also trafficking in women
and children in local markets. On Monday, the group released a video, entitled
“The Blood of Jihad 2,” which shows how young children undertake
tough military training in ISIS camps before they are sent off to
fight for the group's cause of building an Islamic caliphate in
the region.

The latest video is the second in a series revealing life inside
the rigorous training camps of ISIS. The first part was released in October, depicting
the training and graduation of adult recruits for the militant
group.